


Great Expectations

by mcgarrygirl78



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Drama, F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-11
Updated: 2014-10-11
Packaged: 2018-02-20 17:23:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,409
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2436815
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mcgarrygirl78/pseuds/mcgarrygirl78
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“That kind of news just has to be dropped, like a cinder block.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Great Expectations

**Author's Note:**

> I got this idea at about 12:30 this morning when I was teetering on the edge of blackness in bed. Usually it would send me flying up to write it in a notebook but I was so tired I just said a prayer to the fic goddesses not to let me forget it. They heard me. This was written for the prompt **just once**.

The tap on the hotel room door was light but she knew he heard it. The familiar footfalls came down the short hallway and Aaron Hotchner pulled the door open. He greeted Emily with a combination of bewilderment, which you had to look hard to see, and exhaustion. She didn’t know what he was surprised about; her room was right next door. It frequently was even when they cut costs and she roomed with JJ while he and Dave shared. 

 

The Unit Chief looked handsome in what for him passed as field casual. The top two buttons of his dress shirt were undone, cufflinks off, sleeves rolled up, and he was barefoot. Hotch seemed to prefer bare feet when he finally got his shoes off. Emily was sure it was the country boy in him.

 

“I was about to order room service.” Hotch said, the way he stood blocking her entry into the room. “Are you hungry?”

 

“Starving as a matter of fact.” Emily tried to smile, just missing the mark.

 

“Come in. The room service menu…”

 

“Hotch, we’ve been here almost five days. I have the room service menu down to a science.”

 

“Of course.” Hotch smiled, giving an ever so slight view of his dimples.

 

Here was St. Louis; they were on the hunt for a predator whose dangerous behavior was escalating. Teenagers were the victims, both sexes, aged 12 to 16. It was hard to get a grip on the Unsub with such a scattered victimology. The BAU had been working nearly around the clock to make sense of it. One body had been discovered since they arrived, to add to the four already found.  At least 15 kids who fit into the description of those found so far had been reported missing in the past 30 days.

 

“What are you going to have?” He asked, picking up the hotel phone.

 

“Hash browns and a side of Canadian bacon with a small tropical fruit salad.”

 

“A drink?”

 

“I’ll just drink water.” Emily started gathering the files and reports scattered across the bed. He didn’t need to be looking at this all the time. Crime scene photos, witness statements, missing persons reports and more. It was really no wonder the man was an insomniac. While they all had things that made them stare at the shadows on the ceiling at night, Hotch was a haunted man. Emily could not “save” him no matter how much she might want to. What she could do was stand by his side and fight like hell. If he fell, she would fall too. So would Morgan, Reid, Rossi, JJ, and Garcia…they were more than a team.

 

“No more case files tonight.” She told him, putting the files on the table and sitting in the chair. “You have got to turn it off sometimes. It’s almost midnight, Hotch.”

 

“That cell phone at the crime scene was the Unsub’s first big mistake.” He replied. “Garcia is going through it with a fine-toothed comb. We are going to find this guy.”

 

“I really hope so.”

 

“So they said the food should be here in about 15 minutes.” Hotch sat on the bed. He looked at the closed case file in his hands before handed it to her. “I hoped everyone else was asleep.”

 

“Yeah right.” Again Emily’s smile didn’t make it to her eyes. She looked at Hotch but then averted her gaze. He read her too well and part of her, a big part, wanted that to be more comforting than scary.

 

“Rossi is,” Hotch replied. “If you listen closely you can hear him snoring from here.”

 

“His snoring isn’t too bad. I've certainly heard worse.”

 

“So have I.”

 

Emily nodded. The room fell silent but it was not comfortable. She hadn’t come to his room for quite some time; Hotch was curious what made tonight different. She was here, hungry, and seemed to have something heavy on her mind. He tried to be a confidante for her but it never worked out. 

 

She shared thoughts with Morgan and Rossi, different subjects with different men. Maybe JJ got the girl stuff or it was possible that the deep down secrets were only told to her older sister Julia. Perhaps Emily didn’t share the serious stuff with anyone. Hotch never saw someone compartmentalize as she did…it was better than even his best. He had seen façades crumble and masks slip but the majority of the time Emily Prentiss was on point. The curious sort, which Hotch was, couldn’t help but wonder who the woman underneath was. He did more than wonder, he craved the answer.

 

“Emily…”

 

“Hotch, I…”

 

There was laughter as they both spoke at the same time. Before Hotch could defer to her, room service arrived. He opened the door, took the wheeled table, and gave the concierge a tip. He turned to smile at her.

 

“This smells really good.” Hotch said.

 

“Mmm hmm,” Emily nodded, drawing her knees up to her chest.

 

Hotch put both platters on the table, pulled the covers off, and joined Emily at the table. He got up again to get her a bottle of water from the mini-fridge. They ate slowly and in silence. Hotch looked at her.

 

“You might not know this,” he said. “Well you probably do but you can tell me anything Prentiss.”

 

“Can I tell you that I'm pregnant?”

 

Hotch choked on the turkey club he attempted to chew. He went to grab his beer, rethought that, and took Emily’s water. He drank half of the bottle though the sputtering went on for a few minutes. This time when he looked at Emily she met his intense gaze.

 

“You can tell me that, if you need to.”

 

“I'm pregnant, Aaron.”

 

She had never called him Aaron before. No that wasn’t true…she called him Aaron once. Just once but Hotch was sure he would never forget it.

 

“Are you alright?” he had a million other questions on the tip of his tongue and at the base of his skull but that’s the one that came out.

 

“Yes. Are you?”

 

“Why wouldn’t I…?”

 

“The choking, Hotch.” Emily cut him off. “I guess I could’ve been more subtle.”

 

“Not too many ways you can be subtle with that one I'm afraid. That kind of news just has to be dropped, like a cinder block.”

 

“Yeah,” she smiled and ate a pineapple. “I'm sorry anyway.”

 

“Don’t apologize, Prentiss. So, how far along are you? Have you considered how the progression will affect work in the field?”

 

“Honestly, no. I'm about 12 weeks now; I've known for almost 10 days. All I've been thinking about is how I was going to tell you.”

 

“Well I…” Hotch stopped with the sandwich halfway to his mouth. Realization came to him in a flash as well as slow motion. He wanted to put the sandwich back on the plate but he was paralyzed. “We’re…”

 

“Yes,” Emily nodded. “Cinder block moment.”

 

“But we…just once Em.”

 

“My mother taught me a long time ago that that’s all it takes.”

 

“Clearly.” finally regaining some control, Hotch dropped the sandwich. “We’re…”

 

“Yes.”

 

“And you're sure? I mean not sure its mine but sure you’re pregnant?”

 

“I would never involve you in a maybe. Hell, I wasn’t even sure that…”

 

“I want to be a part of my child’s life.” Hotch said it abruptly and a bit too defensively. A moment flashed, he thought of apologizing, but it was also important that Emily understand that. He wasn’t sure what kind of father he would be but absentee was not the correct answer.

 

“I would never…Hotch if I didn’t want you involved I never would have told you.”

 

“Wow,” he stood and began to pace. Running his hand over his face then through his hair, Hotch thought about that one night.

 

It was after what Cyrus did to her. He made her take two weeks off to heal though she fought him on it the whole way. The night before she returned to Quantico he brought her pizza. It was the most personal gesture Hotch ever extended to his teammate but it was important to him that Prentiss know the time off was not punishment. He wanted her at his side; he wanted her at her best.

 

Hotch was injured enough…he didn’t need his team more banged up than usual. It was hard to recall just how it happened though he knew it was during the goodnight. A whole chaste evening of pizza, beer, and laughter (it turned out Emily was a big fan of _Carol Burnett and Friends_ ) and Hotch waited until he was on his way out to kiss her. The moment their lips touched there was only one way for the night to end.

 

It was beautiful. Emily smelled so good, tasted so good, felt so damn good…Hotch would never get enough of pleasuring her. Their bodies moved together like dancers, as if they had been together a thousand times instead of one. She whispered his name, whimpered it, screamed it; and Hotch did the same. Making love she called him Aaron. The name came off her lips as easily as Hotch did in the field.

 

The next morning wasn’t awkward, it was just different. It surprised Hotch that Emily didn’t express regret but surely didn’t think a repeat performance was a good idea. It took a long time for her to get to a place where she felt confident in her position at the BAU and how she did her job. She sure could not let carnal urges ruin that. Too much was at stake. 

 

He just nodded, choosing to keep his feelings, such as they were, to himself. He had known Emily for enough time to know when she made a decision then that was the end. Nothing he said would have changed her mind, or maybe that was how he justified his complete lack of expressing what he felt.

 

“Anything I do or say now will seem calculated.” Hotch was talking to himself more than Emily.

 

“I don’t know what that means.”

 

Emily knew exactly what it meant but surely wasn’t letting him off the hook. She did all the talking that morning; all Hotch did was nod. They never talked about it after that night…what would have been the point? They had a terrific working relationship; in the field they were completely in sync. Someday soon they could even be friends. Well now, Emily was not so sure.

 

“I never wanted a one-night stand. I…maybe I should have said it then but you seemed so sure of yourself; adamant actually. If I pushed…I wanted more than a one-night stand.”

 

“Ruining what we had would’ve broken my heart, Hotch. Our working relationship was perfect and that was saying so much considering how it started. I was sure we could’ve been friends if we made an effort. I didn’t want sex to ruin that.”

 

“Is our baby going to ruin that?” He asked.

 

“Our baby is a blessing, Hotch.” She stood up and went to him. Emily could feel the heat on his face when she cupped it in her hands. “That is the only way I will ever look at it. I've always wanted to be a mother…this happened for a reason.”

 

“You want the baby, I know that Emily, but do you want me as well?”

 

“I want you to be a father to your child, of course I do.”

 

“That’s not what I asked you.” He said.

 

“Hotch…”

 

“Please tell me that I'm not the only one who felt something, who feels something. We may have put the cart before the horse but no one is perfect.”

 

Emily’s laughter was cut off by a passionate kiss. Hotch took a firm hold of her hips, pulling her closer until their torsos touched. He could feel the butterflies in her stomach—was that his child?—and it made him quiver. Emily’s arms moved around his neck, where her hands moved up and through his hair. Hotch deepened the kiss and she moaned into his mouth.

 

“Aaron…” she pulled away so she could breathe. He started kissing down her neck and across her throat.

 

“Mmm, baby,”

 

“That turns me on.” She whispered as they moved closer to the bed.

 

“What's that?” Hotch’s mouth remained attached to her skin.

 

“When you call me baby. Where did…?”

 

“I like the way it sounds; I love the way you respond to it.”

 

“Are we doing this?” Emily made him back away enough to pull his shirt from his slacks and unbutton it. Hotch didn’t let her work keep him away from her neck.

 

“There are, at this moment, 467 answers to that question.”

 

Hotch lay her back gently on the mattress. He shrugged out of his shirt as his body lingered over hers. Emily caressed his strong forearms, his shoulders, and his back before pulling him into another round of passionate kisses. His cell phone, on the table beside the bed, started vibrating. Hotch cursed and reached for it. This was not a job in which any phone call went ignored.

 

“Hotchner.” His body came to rest beside hers on the bed.

 

“Agent Hotchner, this is Detective Stanton, we just found a body. Tentative ID has it as Kim Courtland.”

 

“Alright. We’ll be there.”

 

Hotch hung up the phone and looked at Emily.

 

“We have another body.”

 

She didn’t say anything; she just rushed to get up from the bed and headed to the door. 

 

“Prentiss?”

 

“I have to change. I’ll knock on doors.”

 

“Yeah.” he wanted to reach out for her but that would have to wait. “Hey, you're out on any takedown. I know I don’t have to tell you that but…”

 

“I know.” She nodded. “Dibs on the interrogation though.”

 

Hotch nodded, getting up from the bed himself as she walked out. He needed to put his focus back on the case. Right now he felt that might be difficult but as he buttoned his shirt and grabbed his tie from the dresser, Hotch knew he would be Hotch as soon as he stepped out of that hotel room. Emily was not the only one who compartmentalized well. Her good news would be waiting for him after that caught this killer. Hotch thought about making the world safer for his children, holstered his gun, and left to wake his team.

 

***

                                                                                                                     

  
 


End file.
